Campus Facilities

Academic and Administrative Buildings
The Brown Library
Residences
The Sterling Farm
Outdoor and Recreational Facilities
Kitchen and Dining Hall
Center for Northern Studies

The Brown Library

The Brown Library at Sterling College is open 24 hours a day to students and staff.  It operates on an honor system, which requires a total commitment to the needs of others and a spirit of cooperation.  The library is also open to the public during office hours, but registration is required to borrow books.

The building was constructed in 1990 by student interns and alumni work crews under the direction of a college trustee.  It has energy-efficient lighting, a heat-exchanger for ventilation, and a sub-floor heating system.  Rooms include a comfortable reading room with a wonderful view of Mount Mansfield (great sunsets too), a periodical room, a map room, and a loft that contains private study carrels and computers for word processing. 

The walls of the library serve as an art gallery featuring Vermont artists.  Exhibits change every six weeks and each show begins with a Sunday afternoon artist’s reception.

The Brown Library’s extensive, specialized collection focuses on environmental and resource issues and supports the curriculum of our majors: Northern Studies, Outdoor Education and Leadership, Sustainable Agriculture, and Conservation Ecology.  There are currently 8,350 volumes of books, 100 periodical titles, 270 videos and films, numerous pamphlets and newsletters, and a collection of maps.  Materials are also available on interlibrary loan through Vermont’s Automated Library System (VALS).  In addition to the six word processing computers, there is also a computer with Internet access.  The library subscribes to three electronic periodical databases, which contain full-text journal articles and can be accessed from any Internet computer, including from dorm rooms and home computers.